WINCHESTER.- Funding of more than £90,000 has been secured by Hampshire Cultural Trust to allow the charity to undertake two new projects – one using heritage to support people who’ve experienced mental health issues, and the other to grow engagement in arts.

The Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund, managed by the Museums Association, has given £61,799 to On the Move!, with Arts Council England granting £28,220 to make Connecting Conversations happen.

On the Move!
On the Move! will provide supported volunteering opportunities for around 70 men aged 18-75 who have recently received crisis support for mental health issues.

Volunteers (from Solent Mind and other mental health organisations) will help transform HCT’s heritage and transport collection to reinvigorate the story of 19th and 20th century engineering in Hampshire, told at Milestones, Hampshire’s Living History Museum in Basingstoke. The aim is to trace the history of ‘boom and bust’ in engineering and innovation in the county, as well drawing parallels between contemporary experience and the past.

The work undertaken will have a real purpose and a legacy beyond the project itself, informing displays and exhibitions at Milestones Museum for years to come. The huge collection is currently held in Winchester, in an industrial warehouse with the footprint of a football field.

The power of peer support has long been recognised as a solution for long-term mental illness, however men are often less willing to share their feelings with others. The collection will be used as a spring-board for reflection and discussion about participants’ own journeys with the aim of reducing anxiety, decreasing depression, creating more engagement with the community, and increasing social networks and friendships.

The project will start in October 2019 and run until December 2021.

Connecting Conversations
Rushmoor Borough (which covers the towns of Aldershot and Farnborough) has one of the lowest areas of arts engagement in the South West, according to Arts Council England data. Connecting Conversations aims to find out why – and develop creative solutions to change it.

The project, funded by Arts Council England, will involve the community with interviews and focus groups to help HCT understand the perspectives of those in the borough not currently engaging with arts and culture. It will also explore attitudes, motivations and behaviours that underlie community identities and cultural engagement.

HCT, which runs West End Arts Centre and Aldershot Military Museum, both in Rushmoor, will review the research and host a forum with the local community to gather ideas and suggestions with the aim of further engaging audiences, as well as developing future projects throughout the borough.

Work is just getting underway, with a view to publishing the findings on the HCT website in October 2019.

Paul Sapwell, Chief Executive of Hampshire Cultural Trust said “We are thrilled to have had two successful funding applications that will enable us to make a real change to people’s lives across Hampshire. While HCT has significant experience of delivering social impact projects, ‘On the Move!’ will be our first impact-focussed collections project. Much of the power of our collections is in the stories they tell about ordinary lives and how they can help us reflect on our own lives. Our vision for ‘Connecting Conservations’ is for Rushmoor to become a vibrant borough with a strong identity cultivated through arts participation - we want to understand why Rushmoor isn’t engaging in the arts and catalyse change. We cannot wait to get started on both projects.”